Glass container and closure therefor



Dec. 24, 1935. J. s. ALGEO ET AL GLASS CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFORFiled Jan. 2, 1930 3nventor5 JZhn ,Algeo John J "fljilliam-r PatentedDec. 24. 1935 GLASS CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR John S. Algeo andJohn J. Williams, Wheeling, W. Va., assignors to Hazel-Atlas Glass 00.,Wheeling, W. Va., a corporation of West Virginia Application January 2,1930, Serial No. 418,065

3 Claims.

The invention relates to glass containers and metallic closurestherefor, and the objects of the invention are to improve theconstruction of closures and containers, to improve the sealingefliciency of the closures, to reduce the cost of manufacture of theclosures and the complete package, to facilitate the sealing of thecontainer by an improved arrangement of centering the closure on thecontainer prior to scaling, to reduce the amount of sealing mediumemployed with the closure, to provide a closure which is adapted forvacuum sealing or otherwise, to provide a closure which is easilyremovable and which after removal retains a full reseal value, and tootherwise and generally improve containers and closures therefor. I

The numerous and material advantages of the invention will be apparentto those skilled in the art, from the following detailed description,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing; in which Figure1 is a vertical sectional view of the closure.

Figure 2 is a similar view, but showing the closure in its initialcentered position on a container; and v Figure 3 is a view similar toFigure 2, but showing the closure moved to sealing position.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, numeral I refers generally to aglass container, provided with the usual annular flange 2 below themouth thereof.

Numeral 3 refers to the top of the closure, which has a dependingportion 4, of slightly greater diameter than the external diameter ofthe container mouth, so that it will easily fit over and receive thecontainer mouth. An annular flange extends outwardly from the dependingportion 4, and forms a shoulder or abutment for the upper end of thegasket 6. It should be noted here that the shoulder construction, spacedbelow the top of the cap, reduces the amount of rubber or other sealingmedium used in the gasket.

Depending from the flange 5, is the skirt 1, which extends downwardlythe full length of the gasket, and is then curved in slightly asindicated by numeral 8, to hold the gasket in place before it ispositioned on the container. It will be noted that the flange 5 is ofsubstantially the thickness of the gasket, so that when the gasket is inplace in the skirt its inner face is substantially flush with thedepending portion 4 of the cap.

The finish of the glass container includes a together with the cap dropsfreely over this cylindrical portion of the finish. This part of thefinish, the cap and the gasket, are all designed so that the cap andgasket will drop freely over the finish, thereby becoming accuratelycentered, without any effort on the part of the operator.

The very material saving in time in placing andcentering the caps on thecontainers, and the a subsequent increased efliciency in the sealingoperation, will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

The finish further comprises an annular bead I0 arranged immediatelybelow the cylindrical portion 9 of the finish. When the cap has beendropped into its centered position, as shown in Figure 2, the gasketrests lightly upon the finish bead l0, and the sealing operation is nowin order. The closure is adapted for vacuum sealing or otherwise; andwhen the container is to be sealed it is only necessary to applysuflicient pressure to force the gasket over the bead Ill; it beingunderstood, of course, that if the container is to be vacuum sealed, theair will first be exhausted, and the plunger or other device for sealingthe container will operate in a vacuumizer.

When the cap is forced into sealing position, so that the gasket iscompressed and locked over the bead, the cylindrical portion 9 of thefinish is received within the reduced upper portion of the cap; the topof the cap contacting with or almost contacting with the mouth of thecontainer. The final position of the parts is shown in Figure 3. Whilewe have shown the sealing and locking bead III as having a roundedsurface, it is to be understood that the invention, contemplates alocking head of any desired outline in cross-section; and for differentcontainers different shaped beads may be employed. Locking shoulders arevery old and well known in the art; an example thereof being shown inthe patent to Fenn No. 843,802, Feb. 12, 1907; and of course, no claimis made broadly to a locking shoulder per se While locking shouldershave been known and in commercial use for many years, the presentinvention constitutes a very desirable improvement over all suchdevices. In such prior sealing devices, the common form of glass finishemployed, consisted'of a frusto conical surface which began at the mouthof the container, and which flared surface usually terminated with asharp shoulder, over which the gasket locked. Such old structurespossessed a very serious and inherent disadvantage, in that greatcarehad to be exercised in properly centering the caps before sealing;and, of course, if the caps were not properly centered they would not beproperly sealed. It is apparent why this difliculty was present in theold forms, as the cap or gasket had to be positioned on the downwardlyflaring finish which started immediately at the mouth of the container,and the cap had to be placed exactly level on this inclined surface. Butin accordance with the present invention, the finish includes acylindrical portion over which the cap is dropped and automaticallycentered, and a locking bead below the centering portion of the finish.The saving of time in placing the caps on the containers, and thegreater efilciency in the sealing operations, is at once apparent.

It is believed the numerous advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the foregoing description. As regards the metallic cap structure,it is of extreme simplicity, does not involve any waste of material, andhence is relatively inexpensive in manufacture. Also by reducing thediameter of the upper portion of the cap and thereby forming an abutmentfor the upper side of the sealing gasket, a very material saving is madein the amount of sealing medium employed. While it is not new broadly toprovide a cap with a reduced upper portion, yet it is believed to be newin this particular type of cap, and posesses new and very desirablefunctions. A cap of the general type of the present invention is shownin the British patent to Holmes, No. 4251 of 1887; but it will be notedthat in such cap it is essential that the gasket extend the full depthof the cap.

As regards the combined container and closure, the advantages thereofwill also be apparent. As stated hereinbefore, the upper cylindricalportion of the glass finish is of slightly less diameter than the innerdiameter of the gasket, so that the cap will readily drop over thisportion of the finish and thereby automatically center itself. Thisportion need not be cylindrical; for example, it

-could taper inwardly from the top toward the bottom. .The onlyessential being that it is of less diameter than the gasket so that thegasket will drep over it and center itself; which, of course, is nottrue where this portion ofthe glass finish tapers outwardly, as in theprior art. The ease and quickness with which. the caps are thuscenteredon the container by dropping over the upper portion of the finish andresting on the head portion of the finish, results in a very materialsaving of time in this step of the sealing operation. And it alsoresults in a much higher sealing efliciency, for the construction issuch that the cap must be properly centered and,hence the cap will becorrectly forced into-sealing position.

While in the prior practices in which there was a downwardly flaringfinish followed by the locking edge, as shown in the Fenn patent referrd to hereinbefore, great care was necessary to properly center the capon the flared portion; arid, of...

course, if it was not properly centered, are sub;- sequent sealingoperation might be a failure. The automatic centering of the caps on thelocking bead is one of the material features of the present invention,and the many advantages thereof will be apparent to those skilled in theart.

After having thus been automatically centered, the only thing necessaryto do to effect the sealing, is to apply sufficient pressure to the capto force the gasket over the locking head. The cap is easily removed byinserting a coin between the edge of the skirt and the usual flange 2,and applying the necessary pressure; or, any of the usual tools may beemployed for removing the cap. After removal, the cap retains fullreseal value, and can be merely replaced on the upper portion of thefinish, or can be forced over the locking bead by hand in some finishdesigns; it being understood that the specific design of the lockingbead may be varied to suit various conditions.

Having fully described the invention, what we claim is:

1. A glass container and a preformedclosure therefor, the glasscontainer having a cylindrical centering portion at its mouth, a bead onthe glass container adjacent to the mouth but below the cylindricalportion, said bead forming an abrupt ledge, the preformed closureincluding a top and a depending skirt, a gasket rectangular incross-section arranged within said skirt, gasket retaining means on thelower edge of the skirt, the inner diameter of said gasket beingslightly greater than the diameter of the cylindrical portion of thefinish so that the closure andgasket will drop freely over thecylindrical centering portion of the container and be automaticallycentered thereon, the closure resting on the abrupt ledge formed by thebead, prior to the sealing operation.

2. A glass container and a preformed closure therefor, the finish ofsaid glass container including a cylindrical centering portion at themouth of the container, a locking bead having a curved surfacearranged'below the cylindrical portion and forming an abrupt ledge, thepreformed closure including a top, a skirt, and a gasket arranged in theskirt, the inner diameter of the gasket being slightly greater than thediameter of the cylindrical portion of the finish so that the closureand gasket will drop freely over the cylindrical portion of the finishand rest on the abrupt ledge formed by the head of the finish, prior tothe sealing operation.

3. A glass container and a preformed closure therefor, the finish ofsaid glass container including a cylindrical centering portion at themouth of the container and alocking portion below the cylindricalportion forming an abrupt ledge, the preformed closure including a top,an annular porton depending from said top and of slightly greaterdiameter than the cylindrical portion of the finish, a flange extendingoutwardly from said depending portion, a skirt depending from saidflange, a flange extending inwardly from the lower end of the skirt, agasket rectangular in cross-section arranged in said skirt and extendingfrom the first-mentioned flange to the second-mentioned flange, theinner diameter of the gasket being slightly greater than the diameter ofthe cylindrical portion of the finish so that the closure will freelydrop over said cylindrical finish and rest on the abrupt ledge formedbythe locking portion prior to the sea in opera-

